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On SaleRossini: La gazzetta / Forte, Schultsz, Opera Royal de Wallonie
DVD$36.99$27.99Dynamic
May 27, 2016DYN-37742 -
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Rossini: Overtures - (arranged for Mandolin Quintet)
$13.99CDBrilliant Classics
Jan 01, 2021BRI95904 -
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On SaleROSSINI: Italiana in Algeri (L') (The Italian Girl in Algier
CD$24.99$18.99Dynamic
Jan 30, 2007DYN-CDS526 -
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Rossini: La Gazzetta / Franklin, Orestano, Gauthier, Mastrototaro
$29.99CDNaxos
Oct 26, 20108660277-78 -
On SaleRossini: Adelaide di Borgogna / Acocella, Gritskova, Sadovnikova, Virtuosi Brunensis
CD$29.99$20.99Naxos
Jun 09, 20178660401-02 -
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On SaleRossini: L'inganno felice / Benetta, Fogliani, Virtuosi Brunenses
DVD$36.99$29.99Dynamic
Jul 29, 2016DYN-37760 -
Rossini: Maometto II / Fogliani, Poznan Camerata Bach Choir, Virtuosi Brunenses
$35.99CDNaxos
Nov 09, 20188660444-46 -
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On SaleRossini: La Scala Di Seta / Scimone, Zanfardino, Lepore, Bordogna, Zapata, Malavasi
DVD$34.99$32.99Opus Arte
Jul 31, 2012OA 1075D -
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On SaleRossini: Demetrio e Polibio / Acocella
CD$21.99$15.99Naxos
Oct 13, 20178660405-06 -
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Rossini: La Donna Del Lago / Zedda, Ganasi, Mironov, Et Al
$29.99CDNaxos
Jan 29, 20088660235-36 -
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Rossini: Robert Bruce / Arrivabeni, Tamar, Rivenq, Et Al
$24.99CDDynamic
May 27, 2003DYN-CDS421 -
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Largo al factotum (Live)
$18.99CDBongiovanni
Oct 19, 2018GB 2571-2 -
Rossini: Aureliano In Palmira / Sagripanti, Mihai, Aleida, Fagioli, Orchestra Internazionale D’italia
$35.99DVDBongiovanni
Jan 01, 2012AB20022 -
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On SaleRossini: Armida / Pérez-Sierra, Cracow Philharmonic
CD$29.99$20.99Naxos
May 24, 20248660554-55 -
Rossini: Le Siege De Corinthe / Tingaud, Regazzo, Cullagh, Spyres, Sala, Ramos
$29.99CDNaxos
Jun 25, 20138660329-30 -
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On SaleRossini: Piano Music Vol 6 - Peches De Vieillesse Vol 4 / Alessandro Marangoni
CD$19.99$13.99Naxos
May 27, 20148573107 -
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Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri
$45.99Blu-RayOpus Arte
Aug 26, 2014OABD7148D -
On SaleRossini: Stabat mater
CD$18.99$14.99Dynamic
Sep 08, 2017DYN-CDS7799 -
On SaleRossini: Matilde Di Shabran / Perez-Sierra, Passionart Orchestra Krakow
CD$35.99$25.99Naxos
Dec 04, 20208660492-94 -
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On SaleRossini: 6 Sonate a Quattro / Bruno, Fewer, Silver, Quarrington
CD$18.99$9.49Leaf Music
Mar 19, 2021LM240
Rossini: La gazzetta / Forte, Schultsz, Opera Royal de Wallonie
Dynamic
Available as
DVD
Also available on Blu-ray
Based on a play by Carlo Goldoni, Rossini’s La Gazzetta revolves around a man who strangely tries to find a husband for his daughter by placing an ad in the newspaper. The Opera Royal de Wallonie closed its 2014 season with this opera buffa. This production was directed by Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera, and includes for the first time a Rossini quintet, which was discovered in 2012 and has been given its rightful place in Act One. Subtitles are available for this production in Italian, English, French, Germany, Japan, and Korea.
Based on a play by Carlo Goldoni, Rossini’s La Gazzetta revolves around a man who strangely tries to find a husband for his daughter by placing an ad in the newspaper. The Opera Royal de Wallonie closed its 2014 season with this opera buffa. This production was directed by Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera, and includes for the first time a Rossini quintet, which was discovered in 2012 and has been given its rightful place in Act One. Subtitles are available for this production in Italian, English, French, Germany, Japan, and Korea.
Rossini: Overtures - (arranged for Mandolin Quintet)
Brilliant Classics
Available as
CD
$13.99
Jan 01, 2021
All Rossini’s qualities as a musical giant are to be found in concentrated form in the famous overtures. The sheer vitality of the music is astounding, and the wealth of thematic material ensures that each is remarkable in its own different way. The Rossini anniversary of 2018 presented an opportunity to shed new light on these familiar works, but in a form that the composer himself would have recognised. This long-established mandolin quintet took a mix of old and newly commissioned arrangements and toured them across Italy to great success before making the present recording. The quintet takes its name from the mandolin virtuoso Giuseppe Anedda (1912-97) who popularised the instrument throughout his native Italy with his own ensemble and established for it a place in classical concert halls and modern works beyond the ‘early music revival’ of the 50s and 60s. He took part in pioneering recordings of Vivaldi and early performances of Stravinsky’s Agon. This all-Italian quintet (comprising a pair of mandolins, a mandola, guitar and double bass) was founded in Anedda’s memory in 2003 to carry on his work. Its members are all soloists and teachers in their own right. They commissioned Michele Di Filippo to arrange the first four overtures on this album: L’Italiana in Algeri (1813), Il Viaggio a Reims (1825), La Cenerentola (1817) and La Scala di Seta (1812). The other four overtures are from Il Signor Bruschino (1813), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (1816), Tancredi (1813) and La Gazza Ladra (1817), for which the quintet performs from transcriptions made and published in the first half of the 20th century by Mario Macchioci and Enrico Marucelli. All the arrangements preserve the heady excitement of the famous ‘Rossini crescendo’ as well as the chamber-like dialogue between wind and strings in the original scores.
REVIEW:
Let me preface this review by saying I am a sucker for oddball arrangements of familiar classics. A group of eight Rossini overtures transcribed for mandolin quintet would certainly qualify as such. But this release transcends my own idiosyncrasies, for these arrangements work very well indeed, preserving the charm and liveliness of these frothy works and adding an extra dimension to them.
The sound quality of the recording is quite vivid and the brightness of the mandolins comes across quite well without being piercing. The placement of the musicians is quite precise in the wide soundstage. The ends of each piece do have a bit too much echo for my tastes. There’s no dynamic compression here, permitting the carefully mounted tension to grip the listener and not let go until the conclusion of each piece. There’s sufficient variety in the pieces that I didn’t feel any need to take a break between the different overtures.
In all, I found this disc tremendous fun and a creditable variation on these well-known works.
– MusicWeb International
ROSSINI: Italiana in Algeri (L') (The Italian Girl in Algier
Dynamic
Available as
CD
ROSSINI: Italiana in Algeri (L') (The Italian Girl in Algier
Rossini: La Gazzetta / Franklin, Orestano, Gauthier, Mastrototaro
Naxos
Available as
CD
$29.99
Oct 26, 2010
A bubbly effusion of Rossini’s music, some new, some re-cycled, all enjoyable.
Rossini’s pre-eminence among his contemporaries was widely recognised after the success of his opera seria Tancredi and comic opera L’Italiana in Algeri in Venice in 1813. The composer was summoned to Naples by the impresario Barbaja and offered the musical directorship of the Royal Theatres, the San Carlo and Fondo. The proposal appealed to Rossini for several reasons. First, his annual fee was generous and guaranteed. Secondly, and equally important, unlike Rome and Venice, Naples had a professional orchestra. Rossini saw this as a considerable advantage as he aspired to push the boundaries of opera into more adventurous directions and did so in the nine opera seria he composed during his seven year stay in the position. Under the terms of the contract, Rossini was to provide two operas each year for Naples whilst being permitted to compose occasional works for other cities.
The composer tended to push the limits of his contract in respect of composing for other theatres. In the first two years he composed no fewer than five operas for other venues, with Il Barbiere di Siviglia being the most successful. This pace of composition and presentation of operas was necessary for a composer to enjoy a decent standard of living. There was also the fact that an opera success in a city far away, at least by the standards of the day, allowed an element of self-plagiarisation. Why waste good tunes - even when a work has been a failure - although this was sometimes taken to excess with straight lifts of music with the words simply altered.
After his first trip to Rome, and the massive success of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Rossini returned to Naples to find the San Carlo theatre burned down. He composed a cantata for a ceremony to celebrate the wedding of the royal princess. Rather than proceeding with the two operas he was contracted to write for Naples, Rossini then proceeded to enjoy himself around town rather than composing. This led to Barbaja writing a formal letter of complaint to the theatre management about the delay in production, whilst the local papers were scathing. At last, much delayed, the first of the two contracted operas, La gazzetta, (The newspaper), was premiered at the small Teatro dei Fiorentini, Naples on 26 September 1816. It was Rossini’s eighteenth opera and was to be the only comic opera that he wrote for the city. Having given time to the production of Tancredi during the rehearsals of La gazzetta, it was no surprise that Rossini completed the work in a hurry and used music that was well known in Rome and elsewhere and some which would be used again in the near future in La Cenerentola. This is fact, although in the booklet essay with this issue the writer contends that the hand-written score of La gazzetta shows evidence of much care. Being popular with the local audience if not with the local press, it had twenty-one performances. The work was soon withdrawn and not seen again until revived in Rome one hundred and forty years or so later.
The action of La gazzetta takes place in a Parisian inn where several guests are staying. Don Pomponio, a local big mouth, extols the virtues of his daughter and has advertised the fact in the local papers as he seeks to marry her off. To cater for local tradition at the Teatro dei Fiorentini the role of Don Pomponio was written in Neapolitan dialect and is sung here by a native of the city Marco Cristarella Orestano. I cannot vouch for the veracity of his Neapolitan patois but he certainly enters into the spirit of his character. Whilst not being the most mellifluous of baritones his quick patter is delivered with good Rossinian taste and skill (CD 1 Trs. 4-6). Don Pomponio is unaware that his daughter, Lisetta, is in love with Filippo, owner of the inn. Judith Gauthier sings this high role with warm tone, pleasing vocal purity and characterisation (CD 1 Tr. 8). In the duets with her father (CD 1 Tr. 14) and her lover (CD 2 Tr. 4) she characterises the role particularly well. Her lover, Filippo, is sung by Giulio Mastrototaro, one of a clutch of more than adequate lower-voiced males who appear in the cast. Whilst not being outstanding they play a vital part in making the opera truly comic.
Of the other pair of lovers the warm-tones of Sicilian soprano of Rossella Bevacqua contrasts nicely with those of Doralice (CD 1 Tr. 12). Alberto, in search of a wife confuses her with the lady advertised in the ‘Gazzetta’ and which confusion is all part of the improbable fun. While not written to feature any of the high-voiced tenors that Barbaja had under contract in Naples, the role has high tessitura as well as a low dramatic requirement. In this performance it is sung by American Michael Spyres. The following year at Bad Wildbad Spyres sang the role of Otello, written for the great Andrea Nozzari famous for his florid singing and powerful lower notes. Spyres has the range, with a strong baritonal patina, however, whilst being ardent he lacks security and easy divisions in the coloratura in the more florid writing (CD 2 Tr. 6). As Madama La Rose, Maria Soulis’s mezzo is rich and flexible (CD 2 Tr.2).
The enjoyment of this typically Rossinian froth depends so much on the cast and the conductor being sympathetic to the idiom. This is the case here with Christopher Franklin on the rostrum drawing a vibrant performance from orchestra, chorus and soloists. In what is obviously an updated staging proceedings are interrupted by warm applause at the end of most set numbers. The tracks are generous allowing for those who want to get rid of the extensive recitative; personally I do not find this troublesome – at least not in this lively performance. There is some stage noise.
The booklet has a good track-related synopsis as well as an informative essay on the background to the opera, both in English and German. There are artist profiles in English. The background essay addresses the problem of the composition of the Act 1 quintet (CD 1 Tr. 10) and whether Rossini himself composed it. Listen and see if you recognise the music. Rossini enthusiasts will want to pursue the research and solution carried out by Gossett and Scipioni and which is discussed at length in the former’s Divas and Scholars (Chicago, 2006). Also interesting is how a producer butchered their efforts at Pesaro in 2001 (pp. 246-247). The production concerned can be seen as reprised at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, in 2005 on Oopus Arte OA0953D. Interestingly, Gossett contends that the first authentic production of the critical edition was in Britain at the 2001 Garsington Festival. It was at this venue that the British premiere of Rossini’s Armida - which I attended - was produced in 2010.
If you like Rossini’s music for his comic operas you will enjoy this performance and have the somewhat naughty pleasure of identifying the music he borrowed and from where - a hint do not always look to what he had composed before La gazzetta. A full libretto, in Italian can be accessed at the Naxos site.
-- Robert J Farr, MusicWeb International
Rossini’s pre-eminence among his contemporaries was widely recognised after the success of his opera seria Tancredi and comic opera L’Italiana in Algeri in Venice in 1813. The composer was summoned to Naples by the impresario Barbaja and offered the musical directorship of the Royal Theatres, the San Carlo and Fondo. The proposal appealed to Rossini for several reasons. First, his annual fee was generous and guaranteed. Secondly, and equally important, unlike Rome and Venice, Naples had a professional orchestra. Rossini saw this as a considerable advantage as he aspired to push the boundaries of opera into more adventurous directions and did so in the nine opera seria he composed during his seven year stay in the position. Under the terms of the contract, Rossini was to provide two operas each year for Naples whilst being permitted to compose occasional works for other cities.
The composer tended to push the limits of his contract in respect of composing for other theatres. In the first two years he composed no fewer than five operas for other venues, with Il Barbiere di Siviglia being the most successful. This pace of composition and presentation of operas was necessary for a composer to enjoy a decent standard of living. There was also the fact that an opera success in a city far away, at least by the standards of the day, allowed an element of self-plagiarisation. Why waste good tunes - even when a work has been a failure - although this was sometimes taken to excess with straight lifts of music with the words simply altered.
After his first trip to Rome, and the massive success of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Rossini returned to Naples to find the San Carlo theatre burned down. He composed a cantata for a ceremony to celebrate the wedding of the royal princess. Rather than proceeding with the two operas he was contracted to write for Naples, Rossini then proceeded to enjoy himself around town rather than composing. This led to Barbaja writing a formal letter of complaint to the theatre management about the delay in production, whilst the local papers were scathing. At last, much delayed, the first of the two contracted operas, La gazzetta, (The newspaper), was premiered at the small Teatro dei Fiorentini, Naples on 26 September 1816. It was Rossini’s eighteenth opera and was to be the only comic opera that he wrote for the city. Having given time to the production of Tancredi during the rehearsals of La gazzetta, it was no surprise that Rossini completed the work in a hurry and used music that was well known in Rome and elsewhere and some which would be used again in the near future in La Cenerentola. This is fact, although in the booklet essay with this issue the writer contends that the hand-written score of La gazzetta shows evidence of much care. Being popular with the local audience if not with the local press, it had twenty-one performances. The work was soon withdrawn and not seen again until revived in Rome one hundred and forty years or so later.
The action of La gazzetta takes place in a Parisian inn where several guests are staying. Don Pomponio, a local big mouth, extols the virtues of his daughter and has advertised the fact in the local papers as he seeks to marry her off. To cater for local tradition at the Teatro dei Fiorentini the role of Don Pomponio was written in Neapolitan dialect and is sung here by a native of the city Marco Cristarella Orestano. I cannot vouch for the veracity of his Neapolitan patois but he certainly enters into the spirit of his character. Whilst not being the most mellifluous of baritones his quick patter is delivered with good Rossinian taste and skill (CD 1 Trs. 4-6). Don Pomponio is unaware that his daughter, Lisetta, is in love with Filippo, owner of the inn. Judith Gauthier sings this high role with warm tone, pleasing vocal purity and characterisation (CD 1 Tr. 8). In the duets with her father (CD 1 Tr. 14) and her lover (CD 2 Tr. 4) she characterises the role particularly well. Her lover, Filippo, is sung by Giulio Mastrototaro, one of a clutch of more than adequate lower-voiced males who appear in the cast. Whilst not being outstanding they play a vital part in making the opera truly comic.
Of the other pair of lovers the warm-tones of Sicilian soprano of Rossella Bevacqua contrasts nicely with those of Doralice (CD 1 Tr. 12). Alberto, in search of a wife confuses her with the lady advertised in the ‘Gazzetta’ and which confusion is all part of the improbable fun. While not written to feature any of the high-voiced tenors that Barbaja had under contract in Naples, the role has high tessitura as well as a low dramatic requirement. In this performance it is sung by American Michael Spyres. The following year at Bad Wildbad Spyres sang the role of Otello, written for the great Andrea Nozzari famous for his florid singing and powerful lower notes. Spyres has the range, with a strong baritonal patina, however, whilst being ardent he lacks security and easy divisions in the coloratura in the more florid writing (CD 2 Tr. 6). As Madama La Rose, Maria Soulis’s mezzo is rich and flexible (CD 2 Tr.2).
The enjoyment of this typically Rossinian froth depends so much on the cast and the conductor being sympathetic to the idiom. This is the case here with Christopher Franklin on the rostrum drawing a vibrant performance from orchestra, chorus and soloists. In what is obviously an updated staging proceedings are interrupted by warm applause at the end of most set numbers. The tracks are generous allowing for those who want to get rid of the extensive recitative; personally I do not find this troublesome – at least not in this lively performance. There is some stage noise.
The booklet has a good track-related synopsis as well as an informative essay on the background to the opera, both in English and German. There are artist profiles in English. The background essay addresses the problem of the composition of the Act 1 quintet (CD 1 Tr. 10) and whether Rossini himself composed it. Listen and see if you recognise the music. Rossini enthusiasts will want to pursue the research and solution carried out by Gossett and Scipioni and which is discussed at length in the former’s Divas and Scholars (Chicago, 2006). Also interesting is how a producer butchered their efforts at Pesaro in 2001 (pp. 246-247). The production concerned can be seen as reprised at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, in 2005 on Oopus Arte OA0953D. Interestingly, Gossett contends that the first authentic production of the critical edition was in Britain at the 2001 Garsington Festival. It was at this venue that the British premiere of Rossini’s Armida - which I attended - was produced in 2010.
If you like Rossini’s music for his comic operas you will enjoy this performance and have the somewhat naughty pleasure of identifying the music he borrowed and from where - a hint do not always look to what he had composed before La gazzetta. A full libretto, in Italian can be accessed at the Naxos site.
-- Robert J Farr, MusicWeb International
Rossini: Adelaide di Borgogna / Acocella, Gritskova, Sadovnikova, Virtuosi Brunensis
Naxos
Available as
CD
Set in medieval Italy, Rossini’s rarely performed Adelaide di Borgogna is based on dramatic historical events that led to Otto the Great (Ottone) of Germany conquering the Kingdom of Italy. Despite its political and warlike subject, Adelaide di Borgogna is full of beautiful music, Rossini using lyrical moments to emphasize emotions and express the triable of passionate love and rivalry between Adelaide, Ottone and Adelberto. Adelaide is bel canto in its purest form and was held in high regard by its composer, who recycled music of it in his subsequent operas. This performance was recorded live at the Trinkhalle, Bad Wildbad, Germany, in July of 2014 for the XXVI Rossini In Wildbad Festival (Artistic Director: Jochen Schoenleber).
Rossini: L'inganno felice / Benetta, Fogliani, Virtuosi Brunenses
Dynamic
Available as
DVD
Gioachino Rossini’s one act opera L’inganno Felice is categorized as a farsa, as it is a melodrama with buffo elements. The work, which features libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa, was an instant success after its premiere in 1812. This production, directed by Jochen Schonleber, was recorded at the Rossini in Wildbad Opera Festival in the summer of 2015. This particular performance received international acclaims, due to stellar directing by Schoenleber and the stars Lorenzo Regazzo and Silvia Della Benetta.
Picture Format: 16:9
Sound Format: PCM 2.0
Subtitles: Italian, English, French, German
Region Code: 0 (Worldwide)
Running Time: 94 mins
Picture Format: 16:9
Sound Format: PCM 2.0
Subtitles: Italian, English, French, German
Region Code: 0 (Worldwide)
Running Time: 94 mins
Rossini: Maometto II / Fogliani, Poznan Camerata Bach Choir, Virtuosi Brunenses
Naxos
Available as
CD
$35.99
Nov 09, 2018
With its carefully planned yet complex dramatic structure and skillful transformation of a tale of heroic conflict between two enemies into a drama of impossible love, Maometto II is considered Rossini’s most radical and innovative opera. Against the background of the violent and cruel tumult of war as the Venetian colony of Negroponte is invaded and defeated by Sultan Mehmet II ‘the Conqueror,’ in 1470, Rossini contrasts this clash of civilizations with the tender emotions of a doomed romance expressed in some of the most beautiful melodies he ever wrote. Heard here in its original Naples version- the more conventional 1822 Venice version with its overture and happy ending can be heard on a separate Naxos recording- this is a movingly tragic drama in which the suicide of the main female role is not without a grim relevance even today.
Rossini: La Scala Di Seta / Scimone, Zanfardino, Lepore, Bordogna, Zapata, Malavasi
Opus Arte
Available as
DVD
The Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, the composer’s birthplace, is internationally renowned for its innovative stagings and musically impeccable productions.
This colourful and exuberant production was staged by Daminano Michieletto, “one of the truly new voices in stage direction today” (L’Unita). Damiano Michieletto made his international debut at the Wexford Opera Festival in 2003 with a highly-acclaimed production of Weinberger’s Svanda Dudák, named Opera Production of the Year by the Irish Times.
Claudio Scimone, a key figure in the international Rossini Renaissance, conducts the Orchestra di Bolzano e Trento and leads a cast of Rossini specialists including Daniele Zanfardino, Olga Peretyatko and Anna Malavasi. Gioachino Rossini LA SCALA DI SETA
Dormont – Daniele Zanfardino
Giulia – Olga Peretyatko
Lucilla – Anna Malavasi
Dorvil – José Manuel Zapata
Blanzac – Carlo Lepore
Germano – Paolo Bordogna
Bolzano-Trento Haydn Orchestra
Claudio Scimone, conductor
Damiano Michieletto, stage director
Recorded live at Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro, August 2009
bonus
- Cast Gallery
- The making of La scala di seta
Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian
Running time: 105 mins (opera) + 22 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)
R E V I E W:
"the musical aspects are in good hands as Claudio Scimone leads the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, with the piquant Olga Peretyatko’s Giulia miles above the rest of the cast in vocal terms, however involved they all are in the antics imposed by director Damiano Michieletto. Carlo Lepore acquits himself in the interpolated aria, “Alla Gloria,” familiar to those who are obsessive Rossinians in performances by Samuel Ramey and Michele Pertusi. Paolo Bordogna’s Germano is hampered by a vibrato housed in a voice of no particular distinction, though he does execute the fioritura quite well. José Manuel Zapata’s Dorvil requires the audience to suspend its belief in him as a romantic lead, while Anna Malavasi (Lucilla) executes the change from prude to sex-crazy puta in typical comic style."
FANFARE: Joel Kasow
This colourful and exuberant production was staged by Daminano Michieletto, “one of the truly new voices in stage direction today” (L’Unita). Damiano Michieletto made his international debut at the Wexford Opera Festival in 2003 with a highly-acclaimed production of Weinberger’s Svanda Dudák, named Opera Production of the Year by the Irish Times.
Claudio Scimone, a key figure in the international Rossini Renaissance, conducts the Orchestra di Bolzano e Trento and leads a cast of Rossini specialists including Daniele Zanfardino, Olga Peretyatko and Anna Malavasi. Gioachino Rossini LA SCALA DI SETA
Dormont – Daniele Zanfardino
Giulia – Olga Peretyatko
Lucilla – Anna Malavasi
Dorvil – José Manuel Zapata
Blanzac – Carlo Lepore
Germano – Paolo Bordogna
Bolzano-Trento Haydn Orchestra
Claudio Scimone, conductor
Damiano Michieletto, stage director
Recorded live at Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro, August 2009
bonus
- Cast Gallery
- The making of La scala di seta
Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian
Running time: 105 mins (opera) + 22 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)
R E V I E W:
"the musical aspects are in good hands as Claudio Scimone leads the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, with the piquant Olga Peretyatko’s Giulia miles above the rest of the cast in vocal terms, however involved they all are in the antics imposed by director Damiano Michieletto. Carlo Lepore acquits himself in the interpolated aria, “Alla Gloria,” familiar to those who are obsessive Rossinians in performances by Samuel Ramey and Michele Pertusi. Paolo Bordogna’s Germano is hampered by a vibrato housed in a voice of no particular distinction, though he does execute the fioritura quite well. José Manuel Zapata’s Dorvil requires the audience to suspend its belief in him as a romantic lead, while Anna Malavasi (Lucilla) executes the change from prude to sex-crazy puta in typical comic style."
FANFARE: Joel Kasow
Rossini: Demetrio e Polibio / Acocella
Naxos
Available as
CD
The genesis of Rossini’s first full-scale opera Demetrio e Polibio is shrouded in speculation, but its initial intention as a ‘family opera’ for the tenor Domenico Mombelli, with roles for his daughters and a libretto by his wife seems clear. Its narrative of political turmoil, romance, kidnap, and the ultimate blessings of true love and unity is a prelude to subjects to which Rossini would frequently turn in future triumphs. The composer’s facility for melody and his genius for combining voices into the loveliest of duets is already much in evidence in this confident but rarely heard debut.
Rossini: La Donna Del Lago / Zedda, Ganasi, Mironov, Et Al
Naxos
Available as
CD
$29.99
Jan 29, 2008
This recording should allow newcomers to enjoy this most melodic and romantic of Rossini’s opera seria.
La donna del lago is the twenty-ninth in the sequential list of Rossini’s operatic titles and the fourth of the nine opera seria Rossini wrote under his contract as musical director of the Royal Theatres of Naples. It was the first opera by a noted composer to be based on any of Walter Scott’s romantic works. Whilst nowadays the most famous is Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Scott’s popularity as a source of operatic libretti expanded rapidly after Rossini’s example. It was at the San Carlo theatre, Naples, with its professional orchestra and fine soloists, that the composer could let his musical invention find its fullest expression. He did not need to resort to the more static and traditional operatic conventions that still pertained elsewhere. In no other Naples opera seria does Rossini expand his musical invention more effectively than in act one of La donna del lago.
Rossini had returned to Naples in the beginning of June 1819 after the premiere of Adelaide de Borgogna (see review) in Rome and by early September he had completed the composition of La donna del lago. Circumstances blighted the premiere on 24 September when the opera had a lukewarm reception. It was considerably more successful at subsequent performances and remained in the San Carlo repertory for a further twelve years. The Act 2 rondo, Tanti affeti, roused Naples audiences when sung by Isabella Colbran, Rossini’s mistress and in 1822 his first wife. Within five years of its composition La donna del lago was heard all over Italy as well as in Dresden, Munich, Lisbon, Vienna, Barcelona, St. Petersburg, Paris and London.
The vocal demands of Rossini’s opera seria for Naples have always been a challenge to later performances. He wrote to suit the superb company contracted by the renowned impresario Domenico Barbaja who had first tempted the composer to Naples. Alongside the vocally formidable Colbran, the roster included the tenors Giovanni David and Andrea Nozzari, both notable for their ability with stratospheric coloratura singing. Rossini’s writing for the two tenors has since proved problematic in a period when voices of the type seemed to have dried up. By 1860 La donna del lago was forgotten until its revival in Florence in 1958. It was heard at the Camden Festival, London, in 1969 and at Houston in 1983 in a production that was also seen at Covent Garden. The emergence from North and South America in the late 1970s of voices who could tackle the tenor roles written for the Naples duo stimulated the Rossini revival by the Pesaro Festival who presented La donna del lago in 1981 and 1983 and followed with other opera seria written with the duo in mind. A live recording from the Pesaro performances featuring Katia Ricciarelli as Elena, Lucia Valentini Terrani as Malcolm and Samuel Ramey as Douglas was issued by CBS on its Masterworks Label (M2K 39311 nla). An audio recording from the 1992 sequence of La Scala performances conducted by Muti appeared from Philips (PH 438 211-2 nla). A DVD version of this Werner Herzog production is available from Opus Arte (see review). The work is scheduled for a shared production by leading European opera houses in 2011.
The story of La donna del lago is set in 15th century Scotland at a time of regular border warfare and insurgency. Elena lives near the shores of Loch Katrine with her father, Douglas, who has been exiled by the King. Although her father has promised her to the rebel chief Rodrigo di Dhu, she loves the young highlander Malcolm, a ‘trousers’ role. After rowing over Loch Katrine, Elena meets and offers shelter to Uberto who had become separated from his hunting party. Uberto is in fact the King against whom Douglas and Rodrigo are in conflict. The incognito Uberto falls in love with Elena and later gives her a ring promising that if ever in difficulty or danger it will secure the help of the King. After the defeat of the rebels and the death of Rodrigo Elena seeks out Uberto and discovers his true identity. The King keeps his promise, pardons Douglas and gives Malcolm Elena’s hand in marriage. The opera concludes with much rejoicing.
La donna del lago opens without an overture, one of the few of the composer’s operatic works to do so. Instead, Rossini seeks to conjure up the atmosphere of the Scottish Highlands in sixteen bars of orchestral introduction followed by a chorus of shepherds (CD 1 tr.1). This is followed by a particularly effective reflective aria for Elena Oh mattutini albori with distant horns (tr.2) that also serve as a melodic motif for her. In the Opera Rara recording, Elena is sung by a soprano as it is on the CBS issue. In the present case we hear the experienced Rossinian mezzo Sonia Ganassi. Vitally, her more soprano-like timbre is fine for the contrast with her lover Malcolm, sung by the low mezzo Marianna Pizzolato, in their duet (CD 1 trs. 16-17) and elsewhere. I greatly admired Ganassi as a dramatic Sinaïde in Moïse et Pharaon (see review). In the role of Elena she encompasses the tessitura without difficulty whilst bringing her full range of tone to characterise the heroine’s many moods (CD 1 tr. 2 and CD 2 trs. 22-23) and particularly in her duets with Uberto (CD 1 trs 3-4 and CD 2 trs. 9-11) as well as in the ensembles. Her Tanti affetti is particularly affecting (CD 2 tr. 22). I did feel Ganassi was outgrowing the eponymous Cenerentola (see review) a fact wholly confirmed by hearing the younger, and lower-toned, Marianna Pizzolato live in the role in her British debut with Welsh National Opera (see review). Like Ganassi, Pizzolato sings with smooth, even, well articulated tone and excellent legato across her considerable vocal range. She exhibits no gear-change to the lowest notes. There are no rasping chest tones in her very musical and well-characterised interpretation (CD 1 trs 11-13 and CD 2 trs. 14-15). This duo reflects excellent casting and represents a significant strength in this performance.
As I have indicated, the casting of the tenors taking the roles written for the Naples duo of David and Nozzari is always likely to be a challenge in this and other Rossini opera seria written specifically with them in mind. In the Opera Rara recording the two roles were sung with musicality and appropriate vocal dexterity as well as allure. But nobody knows the Rossini vocal scene better than scholar and conductor Alberto Zedda, the guiding light of this venture that was recorded at Bad Wildbad, but separately from the annual summer Festival there. That he has succeeded in the tenor casting here to the extent he has is a considerable achievement even if it does not quite match the vocal mellifluousness of the Opera Rara duo. Both tenors encompass the vocal demands. I admired Russian tenor Maxim Miranov in the DVD of Dario Fo’s hyperactive staging of L’Italiana in Algeri at Pesaro in 2006. I noted how he kept good vocal form as he was required to involve himself in physical activity and whilst not being distracted from the peripheral goings-on (see review). Here he has no such distractions and is able to show off his light, highly flexible vocal skills to maximum effect (CD 1 trs. 3-10 and CD 2 trs. 8-13). His slightly dry tone lacks the vocal allure of Kenneth Tarver for Opera Rara, let alone the likes of Juan Diego Florez. However the high Cs ping out with similar security and accuracy. This is also true of the German Ferdinand von Bothmer as Rodrigo, who is required to go down to a baritonal low. He achieves this feat as well as bringing strength and appropriate vigour and characterisation to his role. If he doesn’t quite match Gregory Kunde on the Opera Rara issue in the evenness across his considerable range, that is merely to compare the excellent with the very good (CD 1 trs 18-21 and CD 2 trs. 12-13).
As Elena’s father, Wojtek Gierlach sings strongly if without much distinction (CD 1 tr. 15). In the minor tenor role of Serano the Belgian Stefan Cifolelli sings well with a good Italianate squilla that differentiates him nicely from his tenor counterparts. The soprano tones of the Russian Olga Peretyatko as Albina is likewise well sung with purity and vocal strength in the ensembles. The highest compliment I can pay the Prague Chamber Choir is that they sound Italian and sing their many contributions with vigour. It is vigour, allied with a feel for the genre of the music, brought to the proceedings by Zedda, that is perhaps an even greater recommendation for this issue than the undoubted strength of the soloists.
The booklet has an introductory essay by the conductor, a full track-listing and separate track-related synopsis, all in English and German. Also to be welcomed are the artist profiles given in English only. There is applause after individual items and scene ends and this becomes more enthusiastic as the opera proceeds. The Opera Rara issue, from live performances at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2006, eliminates the applause, whilst benefiting from the frisson of a live performance. Perhaps Naxos could investigate this procedure for their recordings at Bad Wildbad. That is as may be. The applause did not destroy my considerable enjoyment of this excellent performance that adds another Rossini opera to Naxos’s burgeoning catalogue of the composer’s works.
-- Robert J Farr, MusicWeb International
La donna del lago is the twenty-ninth in the sequential list of Rossini’s operatic titles and the fourth of the nine opera seria Rossini wrote under his contract as musical director of the Royal Theatres of Naples. It was the first opera by a noted composer to be based on any of Walter Scott’s romantic works. Whilst nowadays the most famous is Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Scott’s popularity as a source of operatic libretti expanded rapidly after Rossini’s example. It was at the San Carlo theatre, Naples, with its professional orchestra and fine soloists, that the composer could let his musical invention find its fullest expression. He did not need to resort to the more static and traditional operatic conventions that still pertained elsewhere. In no other Naples opera seria does Rossini expand his musical invention more effectively than in act one of La donna del lago.
Rossini had returned to Naples in the beginning of June 1819 after the premiere of Adelaide de Borgogna (see review) in Rome and by early September he had completed the composition of La donna del lago. Circumstances blighted the premiere on 24 September when the opera had a lukewarm reception. It was considerably more successful at subsequent performances and remained in the San Carlo repertory for a further twelve years. The Act 2 rondo, Tanti affeti, roused Naples audiences when sung by Isabella Colbran, Rossini’s mistress and in 1822 his first wife. Within five years of its composition La donna del lago was heard all over Italy as well as in Dresden, Munich, Lisbon, Vienna, Barcelona, St. Petersburg, Paris and London.
The vocal demands of Rossini’s opera seria for Naples have always been a challenge to later performances. He wrote to suit the superb company contracted by the renowned impresario Domenico Barbaja who had first tempted the composer to Naples. Alongside the vocally formidable Colbran, the roster included the tenors Giovanni David and Andrea Nozzari, both notable for their ability with stratospheric coloratura singing. Rossini’s writing for the two tenors has since proved problematic in a period when voices of the type seemed to have dried up. By 1860 La donna del lago was forgotten until its revival in Florence in 1958. It was heard at the Camden Festival, London, in 1969 and at Houston in 1983 in a production that was also seen at Covent Garden. The emergence from North and South America in the late 1970s of voices who could tackle the tenor roles written for the Naples duo stimulated the Rossini revival by the Pesaro Festival who presented La donna del lago in 1981 and 1983 and followed with other opera seria written with the duo in mind. A live recording from the Pesaro performances featuring Katia Ricciarelli as Elena, Lucia Valentini Terrani as Malcolm and Samuel Ramey as Douglas was issued by CBS on its Masterworks Label (M2K 39311 nla). An audio recording from the 1992 sequence of La Scala performances conducted by Muti appeared from Philips (PH 438 211-2 nla). A DVD version of this Werner Herzog production is available from Opus Arte (see review). The work is scheduled for a shared production by leading European opera houses in 2011.
The story of La donna del lago is set in 15th century Scotland at a time of regular border warfare and insurgency. Elena lives near the shores of Loch Katrine with her father, Douglas, who has been exiled by the King. Although her father has promised her to the rebel chief Rodrigo di Dhu, she loves the young highlander Malcolm, a ‘trousers’ role. After rowing over Loch Katrine, Elena meets and offers shelter to Uberto who had become separated from his hunting party. Uberto is in fact the King against whom Douglas and Rodrigo are in conflict. The incognito Uberto falls in love with Elena and later gives her a ring promising that if ever in difficulty or danger it will secure the help of the King. After the defeat of the rebels and the death of Rodrigo Elena seeks out Uberto and discovers his true identity. The King keeps his promise, pardons Douglas and gives Malcolm Elena’s hand in marriage. The opera concludes with much rejoicing.
La donna del lago opens without an overture, one of the few of the composer’s operatic works to do so. Instead, Rossini seeks to conjure up the atmosphere of the Scottish Highlands in sixteen bars of orchestral introduction followed by a chorus of shepherds (CD 1 tr.1). This is followed by a particularly effective reflective aria for Elena Oh mattutini albori with distant horns (tr.2) that also serve as a melodic motif for her. In the Opera Rara recording, Elena is sung by a soprano as it is on the CBS issue. In the present case we hear the experienced Rossinian mezzo Sonia Ganassi. Vitally, her more soprano-like timbre is fine for the contrast with her lover Malcolm, sung by the low mezzo Marianna Pizzolato, in their duet (CD 1 trs. 16-17) and elsewhere. I greatly admired Ganassi as a dramatic Sinaïde in Moïse et Pharaon (see review). In the role of Elena she encompasses the tessitura without difficulty whilst bringing her full range of tone to characterise the heroine’s many moods (CD 1 tr. 2 and CD 2 trs. 22-23) and particularly in her duets with Uberto (CD 1 trs 3-4 and CD 2 trs. 9-11) as well as in the ensembles. Her Tanti affetti is particularly affecting (CD 2 tr. 22). I did feel Ganassi was outgrowing the eponymous Cenerentola (see review) a fact wholly confirmed by hearing the younger, and lower-toned, Marianna Pizzolato live in the role in her British debut with Welsh National Opera (see review). Like Ganassi, Pizzolato sings with smooth, even, well articulated tone and excellent legato across her considerable vocal range. She exhibits no gear-change to the lowest notes. There are no rasping chest tones in her very musical and well-characterised interpretation (CD 1 trs 11-13 and CD 2 trs. 14-15). This duo reflects excellent casting and represents a significant strength in this performance.
As I have indicated, the casting of the tenors taking the roles written for the Naples duo of David and Nozzari is always likely to be a challenge in this and other Rossini opera seria written specifically with them in mind. In the Opera Rara recording the two roles were sung with musicality and appropriate vocal dexterity as well as allure. But nobody knows the Rossini vocal scene better than scholar and conductor Alberto Zedda, the guiding light of this venture that was recorded at Bad Wildbad, but separately from the annual summer Festival there. That he has succeeded in the tenor casting here to the extent he has is a considerable achievement even if it does not quite match the vocal mellifluousness of the Opera Rara duo. Both tenors encompass the vocal demands. I admired Russian tenor Maxim Miranov in the DVD of Dario Fo’s hyperactive staging of L’Italiana in Algeri at Pesaro in 2006. I noted how he kept good vocal form as he was required to involve himself in physical activity and whilst not being distracted from the peripheral goings-on (see review). Here he has no such distractions and is able to show off his light, highly flexible vocal skills to maximum effect (CD 1 trs. 3-10 and CD 2 trs. 8-13). His slightly dry tone lacks the vocal allure of Kenneth Tarver for Opera Rara, let alone the likes of Juan Diego Florez. However the high Cs ping out with similar security and accuracy. This is also true of the German Ferdinand von Bothmer as Rodrigo, who is required to go down to a baritonal low. He achieves this feat as well as bringing strength and appropriate vigour and characterisation to his role. If he doesn’t quite match Gregory Kunde on the Opera Rara issue in the evenness across his considerable range, that is merely to compare the excellent with the very good (CD 1 trs 18-21 and CD 2 trs. 12-13).
As Elena’s father, Wojtek Gierlach sings strongly if without much distinction (CD 1 tr. 15). In the minor tenor role of Serano the Belgian Stefan Cifolelli sings well with a good Italianate squilla that differentiates him nicely from his tenor counterparts. The soprano tones of the Russian Olga Peretyatko as Albina is likewise well sung with purity and vocal strength in the ensembles. The highest compliment I can pay the Prague Chamber Choir is that they sound Italian and sing their many contributions with vigour. It is vigour, allied with a feel for the genre of the music, brought to the proceedings by Zedda, that is perhaps an even greater recommendation for this issue than the undoubted strength of the soloists.
The booklet has an introductory essay by the conductor, a full track-listing and separate track-related synopsis, all in English and German. Also to be welcomed are the artist profiles given in English only. There is applause after individual items and scene ends and this becomes more enthusiastic as the opera proceeds. The Opera Rara issue, from live performances at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2006, eliminates the applause, whilst benefiting from the frisson of a live performance. Perhaps Naxos could investigate this procedure for their recordings at Bad Wildbad. That is as may be. The applause did not destroy my considerable enjoyment of this excellent performance that adds another Rossini opera to Naxos’s burgeoning catalogue of the composer’s works.
-- Robert J Farr, MusicWeb International
Rossini: Robert Bruce / Arrivabeni, Tamar, Rivenq, Et Al
Dynamic
Available as
CD
$24.99
May 27, 2003
ROSSINI / NIEDERMEYER: Robert Bruce (French pasticcio of La
Largo al factotum (Live)
Bongiovanni
Available as
CD
$18.99
Oct 19, 2018
In an age of ultraspecialization that obsesses over minute detail, artists such as Nicola Alaimo remind us that, as elsewhere, in opera versatility is a virtue. The youthful Mr. Alaimo has an impressive CV, broad in scope and variety. His chosen musical home is, of course, 19th century melodrama, ranging from his beloved Rossini, to Bellini, Donizetti and the major works of Verdi. Nonetheless, Mr. Alaimo is thoroughly comfortable with an earlier repertoire comprising Mozart and the Neapolitans, and also with the music of a later era. The giovane scuola had no great love for baritones, but Mr. Alaimo has sung Puccini, Cilea and his Neri Chiaramantesi in Giordano's Cena della beffe made it's mark on opera lovers. The results speak for themselves and his career is there for all to see. Doubters may seek out major venues, conductors or directors where or with whom Nicola Alaimo has not performed- they will not find any, however. Mr. Alaimo has sung Rossini not only all over the world, but also close to home in a long successful partnership with the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro as Dandini in Cenerentola, don Bartolo in The Barber of Seville, Aliprando in Matilde di Shabran, the title role in Guillaume Tell, dom Pomponio in Gazzetta, and the Duke of Ordow in Torvaldo e Dorliska.
Rossini: Aureliano In Palmira / Sagripanti, Mihai, Aleida, Fagioli, Orchestra Internazionale D’italia
Bongiovanni
Available as
DVD
$35.99
Jan 01, 2012
ROSSINIAURELIANO IN PALMIRAMIHAI; FAGIOLI; ALEIDA MIHAI; FAGIOLI; ALEIDA; ORCH. INTERNAZIONALE D'ITALIA AURELIANO IN PALMIRA
Rossini: Armida / Pérez-Sierra, Cracow Philharmonic
Naxos
Available as
CD
Armida was composed as a vehicle for the legendary soprano Isabella Colbran – Rossini’s lover at the time. She changed the composer’s view of what was possible with bel canto – her dynamic force inspiring Rossini’s dramatic intensity. This acclaimed Rossini in Wildbad performance features soprano Ruth Iniesta in the title role and tenor Michele Angelini as the heroic Rinaldo.
Rossini: Le Siege De Corinthe / Tingaud, Regazzo, Cullagh, Spyres, Sala, Ramos
Naxos
Available as
CD
$29.99
Jun 25, 2013
This excellent performance fills a significant gap. At bargain price no enthusiast should hesitate.
It is something of a double that Maometto II should receive its belated British premiere at Garsington as this, the first sensible recording of Rossini’s Paris revision of the work hits the shelves. This performance derives from the Bad Wildbad Festival; one that has become known as the Pesaro of the North. It not only makes a speciality of Rossini’s works but also presents those of often long forgotten Italian operas by German composers of similar vintage. Naxos has issued several commendable recordings from this source that allow appreciation of Rossini’s emerging genius to be heard at modest expense. This issue precedes by one month a performance of Semiramide from Bad Wildbad and recorded at the XXIV Festival (to be reviewed). Le Siège de Corinthe was the first opera composed by Rossini for the Paris Opera after his appointment as director of the Théâtre Italien in Paris in 1823. Semiramide, was the last opera he composed for an Italian theatre.
The genesis of Le Siège is complicated, however a little context is necessary for an understanding of the music. Rossini’s original version - Maometto II - was premiered at the San Carlo in Naples on 3 December 1820. It was his thirty-first opera and the eighth, and the most radical, of the reform operas that he had written for performance there. At Naples Rossini had the benefit of a full-time orchestra and chorus. It also boasted an unequalled roster of star singers engaged by Barbaja, the formidable impresario of the Royal Theatres, who had brought Rossini to Naples as Musical Director. This enabled Rossini to distance himself from the populist clamour of Rome and Venice for crescendos and simplistic orchestral forms, static arias, stage scenes and comic operas. The outcomes were highly dramatic bel canto opera seria with flights of coloratura and vocal decorations paralleled by greater orchestral complexity. This Italian format was not appropriate for Paris and Rossini needed to grapple with the prosody of the French language and re-align his own compositional style towards that of his new hosts. However, before tackling that problem Rossini had the unavoidable duty of writing an opera to celebrate the coronation of Charles X in Rheims Cathedral in June 1825. Called Il viaggio a Reims and composed to an Italian libretto, it was presented at the Théâtre Italien on 19 June 1825.
The “Coronation Opera” over, the works in French were a little slow in coming. However, when they did, first in the form of Le Siège de Corinthe, premiered on 9 October 1826, they were received with acclaim. Le Siège was a spectacular success in both musical and visual presentation and can be seen as the progenitor of the Grande Opera style. It arrived complete with de rigueur ballet that was to dominate at the Paris Opéra (Théâtre de l’Académie Royale de Musique) for half a century.
The plot is basically the same as for Maometto II but with the sacking of Corinthe rather than Venice the scene of the action. This shift had the advantage of topicality with the Greek struggle for liberty from the Turks commanding sympathy among Parisians in the 1820s. Pamyra, daughter of Cléomène, Governor of Corinthe, has fallen in love with Mahomet using a false name. Her father wishes her to marry Néocles, a young and heroic Greek officer. When she learns the truth about Mahomet’s identity she stabs herself rather than be the wife of the man who has conquered her country. With en travestie roles being unacceptable in Paris the role of Néocles is given to a tenor.
The musical adaptation involved Rossini in a considerable toning down of the Italian bel canto display arias, the rewriting of recitatives and the more extensive use of chorus. Display arias do not wholly disappear and certainly that for the tenor hero, Néocles in act two (CD2 Tr.6), and the contribution of Pamyra in the finale (CD2 Tr.9) are up there with the vocal demands in Maometto II. With that in mind Bad Wildbad fields two suitable voices, one relatively new, the other a well known participant in bel canto recordings from Opera Rara. The tenor is the American, Michael Spyres. In the UK in May 2013 Spyres made a big impression stepping in at the premiere of the new Covent Garden production of Rossini’s La donna del Lago, the composer’s immediate predecessor to Maometto II at Naples, when the scheduled tenor Colin Lee was forced to withdraw due to indisposition. Both Spyres and Lee, when the latter had recovered, featured in the live cinema transmission and matched Juan Diego Florez note for note in their respective roles. Spyres is up to the demands of the role in this performance too, singing with vocal flexibility and appealing tone. I note from the artist biographies - very welcome, thank you Naxos - that he has appeared at major houses in bel canto and lyric roles. I look forward to hearing more from him, not least in this repertoire.
In the second tenor role of Pamyra’s father, Cléomène, Bad Wildbad has another high-flying tenor able to handle the demanding tessitura in its cast. He steps forward in the person of Spaniard Marc Salsa; new to me. There are times, as in the act two trio of the two men and Pamyra (CD2 Tr.7), when distinguishing between the two tenors is not easy. It is preferable, however, to having a more distinct but less flexible voice in the role. It bodes well as interest in these operas increases in the present day in even the major operatic centres after nearly a century of neglect.
As Pamyra, the daughter who unknowingly falls in love with the enemy, Majella Cullagh has form in bel canto roles, singing in many recordings from Opera Rara including Rossini’s Elisabetta and Bianca e Falliero. Her strong characterisation allied to vocal flexibility is well in evidence in this performance. Her voice has slightly more edge than in some of her earlier recordings, of Donizetti as well as Rossini, but remains a formidable instrument. She handles the demanding coloratura with aplomb (CD1.Tr.7).
Lorenzo Regazzo as Mahomet II impressed me less than the other principals. He has sonority but also some unsteadiness. Otherwise his characterisation and diction are more than adequate. The chorus are well up to Rossini’s extended demands whilst on the rostrum, Jean-Luc Tingaud is fully at home in the idiom.
This recording presents a new edition for Rossini in Wildbad by Florian Bauer. It is based on a revision, by Jean-Luc Tingaud, of the original edition and on the parts for the first performance on 9 October 1826.
Le Siège de Corinthe has not fared well in the recording studio. A 1969 recording of a later Italian translation featuring Beverly Sills and Shirley Verrett (EMI CMS 64335-2) hardly flatters the work. A film of a stage production, particularly if it included a spectacular visual finale as brought the house down in Paris in 1826 and as well sung as this recording, would be very welcome. In the meantime this audio recording does at least do Rossini’s creation full justice. It also allows enthusiasts to appreciate his first venture into the French style of composition which was to last all too briefly. A mere four operas followed before he laid down his pen in terms of operatic composition with Guillaume Tell in 1829, at the young age of thirty-nine; this despite living nearly as long afterwards.
--Robert J Farr, MusicWeb International
It is something of a double that Maometto II should receive its belated British premiere at Garsington as this, the first sensible recording of Rossini’s Paris revision of the work hits the shelves. This performance derives from the Bad Wildbad Festival; one that has become known as the Pesaro of the North. It not only makes a speciality of Rossini’s works but also presents those of often long forgotten Italian operas by German composers of similar vintage. Naxos has issued several commendable recordings from this source that allow appreciation of Rossini’s emerging genius to be heard at modest expense. This issue precedes by one month a performance of Semiramide from Bad Wildbad and recorded at the XXIV Festival (to be reviewed). Le Siège de Corinthe was the first opera composed by Rossini for the Paris Opera after his appointment as director of the Théâtre Italien in Paris in 1823. Semiramide, was the last opera he composed for an Italian theatre.
The genesis of Le Siège is complicated, however a little context is necessary for an understanding of the music. Rossini’s original version - Maometto II - was premiered at the San Carlo in Naples on 3 December 1820. It was his thirty-first opera and the eighth, and the most radical, of the reform operas that he had written for performance there. At Naples Rossini had the benefit of a full-time orchestra and chorus. It also boasted an unequalled roster of star singers engaged by Barbaja, the formidable impresario of the Royal Theatres, who had brought Rossini to Naples as Musical Director. This enabled Rossini to distance himself from the populist clamour of Rome and Venice for crescendos and simplistic orchestral forms, static arias, stage scenes and comic operas. The outcomes were highly dramatic bel canto opera seria with flights of coloratura and vocal decorations paralleled by greater orchestral complexity. This Italian format was not appropriate for Paris and Rossini needed to grapple with the prosody of the French language and re-align his own compositional style towards that of his new hosts. However, before tackling that problem Rossini had the unavoidable duty of writing an opera to celebrate the coronation of Charles X in Rheims Cathedral in June 1825. Called Il viaggio a Reims and composed to an Italian libretto, it was presented at the Théâtre Italien on 19 June 1825.
The “Coronation Opera” over, the works in French were a little slow in coming. However, when they did, first in the form of Le Siège de Corinthe, premiered on 9 October 1826, they were received with acclaim. Le Siège was a spectacular success in both musical and visual presentation and can be seen as the progenitor of the Grande Opera style. It arrived complete with de rigueur ballet that was to dominate at the Paris Opéra (Théâtre de l’Académie Royale de Musique) for half a century.
The plot is basically the same as for Maometto II but with the sacking of Corinthe rather than Venice the scene of the action. This shift had the advantage of topicality with the Greek struggle for liberty from the Turks commanding sympathy among Parisians in the 1820s. Pamyra, daughter of Cléomène, Governor of Corinthe, has fallen in love with Mahomet using a false name. Her father wishes her to marry Néocles, a young and heroic Greek officer. When she learns the truth about Mahomet’s identity she stabs herself rather than be the wife of the man who has conquered her country. With en travestie roles being unacceptable in Paris the role of Néocles is given to a tenor.
The musical adaptation involved Rossini in a considerable toning down of the Italian bel canto display arias, the rewriting of recitatives and the more extensive use of chorus. Display arias do not wholly disappear and certainly that for the tenor hero, Néocles in act two (CD2 Tr.6), and the contribution of Pamyra in the finale (CD2 Tr.9) are up there with the vocal demands in Maometto II. With that in mind Bad Wildbad fields two suitable voices, one relatively new, the other a well known participant in bel canto recordings from Opera Rara. The tenor is the American, Michael Spyres. In the UK in May 2013 Spyres made a big impression stepping in at the premiere of the new Covent Garden production of Rossini’s La donna del Lago, the composer’s immediate predecessor to Maometto II at Naples, when the scheduled tenor Colin Lee was forced to withdraw due to indisposition. Both Spyres and Lee, when the latter had recovered, featured in the live cinema transmission and matched Juan Diego Florez note for note in their respective roles. Spyres is up to the demands of the role in this performance too, singing with vocal flexibility and appealing tone. I note from the artist biographies - very welcome, thank you Naxos - that he has appeared at major houses in bel canto and lyric roles. I look forward to hearing more from him, not least in this repertoire.
In the second tenor role of Pamyra’s father, Cléomène, Bad Wildbad has another high-flying tenor able to handle the demanding tessitura in its cast. He steps forward in the person of Spaniard Marc Salsa; new to me. There are times, as in the act two trio of the two men and Pamyra (CD2 Tr.7), when distinguishing between the two tenors is not easy. It is preferable, however, to having a more distinct but less flexible voice in the role. It bodes well as interest in these operas increases in the present day in even the major operatic centres after nearly a century of neglect.
As Pamyra, the daughter who unknowingly falls in love with the enemy, Majella Cullagh has form in bel canto roles, singing in many recordings from Opera Rara including Rossini’s Elisabetta and Bianca e Falliero. Her strong characterisation allied to vocal flexibility is well in evidence in this performance. Her voice has slightly more edge than in some of her earlier recordings, of Donizetti as well as Rossini, but remains a formidable instrument. She handles the demanding coloratura with aplomb (CD1.Tr.7).
Lorenzo Regazzo as Mahomet II impressed me less than the other principals. He has sonority but also some unsteadiness. Otherwise his characterisation and diction are more than adequate. The chorus are well up to Rossini’s extended demands whilst on the rostrum, Jean-Luc Tingaud is fully at home in the idiom.
This recording presents a new edition for Rossini in Wildbad by Florian Bauer. It is based on a revision, by Jean-Luc Tingaud, of the original edition and on the parts for the first performance on 9 October 1826.
Le Siège de Corinthe has not fared well in the recording studio. A 1969 recording of a later Italian translation featuring Beverly Sills and Shirley Verrett (EMI CMS 64335-2) hardly flatters the work. A film of a stage production, particularly if it included a spectacular visual finale as brought the house down in Paris in 1826 and as well sung as this recording, would be very welcome. In the meantime this audio recording does at least do Rossini’s creation full justice. It also allows enthusiasts to appreciate his first venture into the French style of composition which was to last all too briefly. A mere four operas followed before he laid down his pen in terms of operatic composition with Guillaume Tell in 1829, at the young age of thirty-nine; this despite living nearly as long afterwards.
--Robert J Farr, MusicWeb International
Rossini: Piano Music Vol 6 - Peches De Vieillesse Vol 4 / Alessandro Marangoni
Naxos
Available as
CD
Rossini’s operas have remained amongst the most popular in the repertoire but over the last decade of his life he turned largely to piano music. The Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age) occupy thirteen volumes, and the deliciously informal and comic fourth is called Quatre hors d’oeuvres et quatre mendiants. Its theme is food, and Rossini lavishes all his abundant abilities of characterisation in his descriptive passages, not least the introduction of a parakeet.
Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri
Opus Arte
Available as
Blu-Ray
$45.99
Aug 26, 2014
The Pesaro Festival’s new offering in 2013 was an off-the-wall production of Rossini’s popular comedy, ‘The Italian Girl in Algiers’, presented as a Swinging Sixties, James Bond adventure, set in the desert oil fields of the North Africa. Davide Livermore’s gag-a-minute, helter-skelter romp followed an alarmingly life-like air-crash, which delivered the ‘Italian girl’ from Rome into the clutches of the local oil baron, Mustafa. All three lead singers (Alex Esposito as Mustafa, the high tenor Yijie Shi as the young lover Lindoro, and Anna Goryachova as the agile-voiced mezzo-soprano of the title role) were met with the audience’s roaring approval of the evening’s entertainment. ‘‘Italian bass Alex Esposito commanded our full attention as Mustafà…a spirited, charismatic actor of inextinguishable theatrical energy.’’ - Opera Today “Davide Livermore’s Rossini stagings are filled with wisdom and wit. Here again, he is sure handed.’’ - Seen and Heard International
Rossini: Stabat mater
Dynamic
Available as
CD
It is difficult to talk of Alberto Zedda in the past tense. Zedda was a person of such enthusiasm that it immediately rubbed off on all those who approached him. In addition to being an excellent conductor, he was an organizer of cultural events, a highly-efficient manager, full of ideas, who put at the service of music his omnivorous culture. For Dynamic Alberto Zedda recorded live Rossini’s Otello, Semiramide and Armida. Partially written in 1831 and only completed at the end of 1841, Rossini’s Stabat Mater was premiered in Paris, at the Theatre Italien, on January 7, 1842, delivered by fine soloists: Giulia Grisi, Emma Albertazzi, Mario de Candia and Antonio Tamburini. It has always been the composer’s best-known and most popular sacred work, because of the power of its dramatic contrasts and beautiful melodies, which make of it one of the masterpieces of Italian 19th-century sacred music, worthy of a place beside Giuseppe Verdi’s Messa da Requiem.
Rossini: Matilde Di Shabran / Perez-Sierra, Passionart Orchestra Krakow
Naxos
Available as
CD
The comic-heroic romp Matilde di Shabran was Rossini’s last commission for the theatres of Rome, the city where he’d had great successes such as Il barbiere di Siviglia. Rossini took advantage of the agile, sparkling style of librettist Jacopo Ferretti to create a narrative in which the ferocious Corradino, a declared misogynist, is introduced to the resourceful Matilde, who succeeds in melting his iron heart and winning his love. This premiere recording revives the original 1821 Rome version, which was conducted at the last minute by Paganini, and caused brawling in the streets between Rossini’s admirers and detractors.
REVIEW:
This splendid recording of the original Rome version of Matilde, recorded at the 2019 Rossini Wildbad Festival in Germany, relishes the almost comic tale of the melodramatic medieval tyrant Corradino conquered by love, or rather Matilde, with a score packed with some of Rossini’s most accomplished music.
Michele Angelini is magnificent as the villain, everything that you hope for in a Rossini tenor—fleet of voice in his runs and trills and with gravity-defying head notes. Sara Blanch’s Matilde matches him note for note. Their Act I duet ‘Ch’io fugga ha già timore…’ is a thrilling lesson in Rossini singing. There’s good work from the rest of the cast, notably the contralto Victoria Yarovaya as Edoardo, who Corradino has unjustly imprisoned and turns tragedy into comedy. Equally pleasing is the Passionart Orchestra conducted by José Miguel Pérez-Sierra. All scrupulously Rossinian including the celebrated horn solo at the beginning of Act II.
– BBC Music Magazine
Rossini: 6 Sonate a Quattro / Bruno, Fewer, Silver, Quarrington
Leaf Music
Available as
CD
Sonate a Quattro are the brilliant compositions from Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, written during the summer of 1804 at the young age of 12. These works, at the time, were commonly performed by wind quartet and it wasn’t until 1954 when the original manuscripts were discovered in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. showing their original arrangement for string quartet. The world premiere recording of Rossini: 6 Sonate a Quattro features two of Canada’s most respected and beloved performers - Mark Fewer (violin), and Joel Quarrington (bass) - and two of North America’s rising stars - Yolanda Bruno (violin), and Julian Schwarz (cello) and produced by JUNO award-winning producer John D.S. Adams. These performances, from November 2017, were recorded in collaboration with the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance using the newly released (2014) Critical Edition published by the Fondazione Rossini Pesaro.
